Nescience
/ˈnɛʃ(ə)ns/noun
Lack of knowledge or awareness; ignorance.
Did you know?Nescience entered English through Latin scholarly writing, and its root is the same ancient negation behind words like nothing and never—proof that language has always had a built-in spell for absence.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ne
“negative particle meaning “not””
Old Latin
Latin
nescīre
“to not know; to be ignorant of”
Latin
Latin
nescientia
“ignorance; lack of knowledge”
14th Century
English
nescience
“ignorance or unknowingness, especially in learned or formal writing”
Modern English
English
nescience
“lack of knowledge or awareness”